


In The Deep Blue

by kotaka_kun



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, anyway someone fvcked a fish, f i s h f u c k e r, flkasdjflkasdjfalksdj is this finished, h a h a get it, keith is half mermaid, mermaid au, no it is not, no it will not, will it be finished properly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 10:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14953212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kotaka_kun/pseuds/kotaka_kun
Summary: It took Keith making more of an effort than he was used to to keep the creature in his sights, much less to catch up to it, but the chase came with a certain degree of exhilaration. Taking a gulping breath, he grit his teeth and sped up further. The closer he got, the more of the creature came back into view, and in all honesty, Keith was struggling to wrap his head around what he was looking at. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that the tail tapered off onto a flesh torso, the upper half of this creature looking almost human. But that couldn’t be.It just didn’t make sense.There wasn’t supposed to be anything else like him.





	In The Deep Blue

**Author's Note:**

> beta-san made this gorgeous piece of art and it fuckin blew me away, I'm so in love,, it sounds cheesy as hell but I was? so inspired,,,, check it out [here](https://katsukrumbs.tumblr.com/image/174771268742)

It had become almost routine these days, with how often Keith made his way to this particular pocket of shoreline. The stretch of sandy beach gave way to tidepools that gave way to flatter rocks that sat at the edge of a particularly deep drop off, and it was there that Keith headed for each time he needed this sort of respite. It was out of the way enough and decently hidden by the overgrown foliage, that as far as he was concerned, he was the only person to find it as appealing as he did, and in all his years coming here, he’d never run into anyone else, which wasn’t exactly surprising -- this beach was definitely one of the less popular ones, as it had little to offer. It didn’t generate good surf, nor was the beach wide enough for many people to lounge around and work on their tan. 

Of course, it never hurt to be careful, so he made sure there was no one in the immediate vicinity before setting about stripping himself down to his swim shorts and stowing the rest of his clothes away in his bag which he set aside somewhere that would be safe from the rising tide. 

The sound of the waves washed over him, and Keith closed his eyes, letting the rhythm of his breathing fall into sync with the tide lapping gently at his rocky perch. When he opened them again, there was no hesitation as he took the three strides to reach the edge of the rocks, before diving headfirst into the water, sliding in with practiced precision. 

There was always a degree of excitement to doing this, no matter how many times he’d done it before. The water against his skin made him shudder, though not from the cold, and he forced his eyes open as he propelled himself deeper into the depths of the ocean, out of sight. He could feel his legs already begin to come together as an all too familiar stretching feeling forced him to still for several long moments. And of course by then, his lungs were starting to protest the lack of oxygen. 

Taking the first breath was always a pain, but he forced himself to do it with a grimace. The burning ache as he inhaled was quickly followed by the feeling of the water filtering out as his gills fluttered open. He took a few more gasping breaths before continuing his trek downwards, his newly formed tail moving him along much faster than his meager kicks had, and it didn’t take very long for him to get to his usual spot, a ways offshore and deep enough to not be quite so visible. 

There was something pleasing about swimming through vast, deserted expanses of ocean, unencumbered by obligations and undisturbed by anyone. The endless shades of blue that surrounded him in any given direction was comforting. 

It meant there was no one to bother him, no one to expect anything from him, no one for him to disappoint. 

It was freeing, Keith thought, to be able to be so alone. 

It was peaceful. 

Here, there was a lack of life overall, fish or otherwise. Keith assumed it was because of the steep drop off, but he didn’t really ever give it much more thought than that -- it was enough that it provided him a place to be alone. And of course, the open space gave him ample room to stretch his fins, per se, and even let off some steam on days he needed to. 

Today, however, he felt less inclined to distract himself than he was to take some time to get a grip before going home, so he dove deeper, further down the drop off, the water getting colder and the light growing dimmer. He could feel the change in pressure, and he welcomed the heaviness; it provided some resistance against he could push himself, and it was something to focus on feeling. 

When he was just several feet from the bottom, he turned onto his back to look up at the dancing rays of light that managed to reach this depth. It was serene, this mirage of color and light. The noise that was nowadays a constant in his head quieted, and he let the lull of the water drain some of the tension from his shoulders. His heart beat steadily in his ears, and he let his eyes fall shut. 

He probably wouldn’t have noticed the unexpected company had they not passed directly over him, blocking the light as they went. His eyes shot open, and his first instinct was to dive deeper, swim out further to avoid detection at all costs. But the outline of whoever - or whatever - had swam over him hadn’t been entirely human. There’d been the silhouette of a tail, but it’d been larger than a typical rogue fish -- Keith was sure of it. And it had been faster than a regular person had any right to be. So he did the only logical thing he could think of. 

He followed it. 

Putting all the strength he could muster into his tail, he shot upwards, unwilling to lose sight of whatever creature had wandered through this area. Something in his gut told him that he should -- call it a hunch -- so he shot through the water, following the glimmer of the tail fin that was already flashing out of sight, its owner having made quite a bit of headway in the few moments that he’d had. 

It took Keith making more of an effort than he was used to to keep the creature in his sights, much less to catch up to it, but the chase came with a certain degree of exhilaration. Taking a gulping breath, he grit his teeth and sped up further. The closer he got, the more of the creature came back into view, and in all honesty, Keith was struggling to wrap his head around what he was looking at. If he didn’t know better, he’d think that the tail tapered off onto a flesh torso, the upper half of this creature looking almost human. But that couldn’t be. 

It just didn’t make sense. 

There wasn’t supposed to be anything else like him. 

His mind was racing, but Keith didn’t have time to consider the implications of what exactly he was chasing, he just knew he needed to catch up to it. 

Suddenly, the thing took a sharp turn to the left, and Keith was left flailing for a moment before managing to take off again in the same direction. He could’ve sworn he’d seen a glint of exposed teeth, lips upturned in a cheeky grin.    
Whatever this creature was, it was fast, and yet something told Keith it was still holding back. It was clearly aware that Keith was trying to catch up to it, but every time Keith almost got close enough to reach out and grab it, it would dart away in a different direction, remaining just out of reach. It was almost as though the creature was taunting him. 

And of course, he was never one to back down from a challenge -- he redoubled his efforts, a singular focus in mind: get ahold of this creature. Not to mention that each time he drew close to the creature, he was seeing that there wasn’t any part of it that had been a trick of the light or something he’d imagined -- not the tail, not the arms, not the humanoid features. 

He was chasing a real mermaid, and Keith didn’t really know what to make of that. 

He just knew that he definitely had to catch it now. Ask it questions. Find out who it was. 

Of course, catching it was easier said than done. Constantly just out of Keith’s reach in the most aggravating way, the mermaid swerved and dove as though it were second nature to it -- it was honestly humiliating how much worse Keith himself was at this. He’d thought he had become familiar enough with this form of his over the years; he’d thought that he was able to use it to its full potential when he had to blow off steam. 

Clearly that wasn’t the case. 

When he finally,  _ finally _ managed to brush his outstretched fingers against the mermaid’s wrist in a futile attempt to grab it, the creature startled him by turning abruptly from it’s sharp dive downwards to face him, forcing him to come to a screeching halt, his face mere inches away from the mermaid’s. It took him several long moments to get his thoughts in order, and it was hard to do when he was staring a mythical creature in the face. 

A mythical creature that looked terribly smug, mind you, like a cat that got the cream. He didn’t quite know what to make of it so he backed up, unsure how to proceed from here; he hadn’t exactly planned what he was going to say after catching it. 

For one reason or another though, his pulling away seemed to upset the mermaid -- its face fell and settled into a look of displeasure.

“I’m Keith.” he offerent tentatively, wondering if he needed to be prepared for it to take off again. If it did, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to catch up again. 

His words were met with a confused look from the mermaid, and for a moment, he panicked -- what if he couldn’t communicate underwater? What if there was a way he was supposed to be speaking, and he wasn’t doing it? 

It seemed that his worry was for naught. 

“I’m Lance.” came the reluctant response several moments later. It’s voice was lower than Keith had expected from the creature’s slimmer build, but he supposed that if he were to take a guess based on his own appearance in comparison to this mermaid, it might be safe to say that this was a male. 

“Lance,” he repeated to himself with a nod. Lance’s scales were a blue as deep as the ocean, his tail muscles lithe, but strong, evident in the ease and grace with which he’d darted around. He made it look effortless, and Keith couldn’t help but regard him with a bit of awe. “I’ve never, I mean, I didn’t know your kind existed.” 

Lance’s bewildered expression was understandable, considering that at the moment, he was technically Lance’s kind. He fidgeted a little.

“I meant  _ still _ existed.” That didn’t seem to be much better. “I’ve never seen anyone else like me around here before.” Great, and now he sounded pathetic and alone. 

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. 

“You don’t have a shoal?” Lance asked, eyebrows suddenly coming together in worry. From the sound of it, Keith assumed that was a group or family for mermaids, so he shook his head. “That’s not safe, man.” 

Keith shrugged. 

“I’m not around here that often.” Lance tilted his head to the side in silent question, or at least that’s what Keith took it to be, so he elaborated. “Like, in the water.” 

A look of tentative understanding came over Lance. 

“You’re a halfling, then?” Yet another term Keith wasn’t about to ask the proper definition of, but he nodded anyway. “Live on land and all that?” He nodded again. “Huh.” 

Now Lance looked amused, and Keith  _ really  _ didn’t like that smug look on his face. 

“What?” he demanded sharply. 

“No wonder you swim like that.” Lance snickered. 

“You saying there’s something wrong with the way I swim?” Keith bristled. 

“No, no,” He had the audacity to look sincere for a moment, “ At least, not if you’re a hatchling just starting to get your bearings.”

Keith glowered, and flipped him off. Lance didn’t seem too offended, but he was able to grasp the sentiment, at least. 

“Hey, don’t feel bad, I’m on the faster side, even amongst the others.” he said sympathetically, and  _ that _ got Keith’s attention. 

“Are there more of you?” 

“Plenty,” Lance nodded, “Just not around here.” 

“Why not here?” Keith asked, but only received a noncommittal shrug in response. He rolled his eyes. This guy was just  _ so  _ helpful. 

Still, for all that Keith could complain about him, Lance was surprisingly easy to talk to, and the time flew by as they shared stories about their lives. Lance was just as enthusiastic about Keith’s stories of living on land as Keith was about Lance’s life underwater. Keith felt a little bad -- he wasn’t good at explaining things, but Lance hung onto his every word. Lance, on the other hand, was clearly a storyteller, and the way he vividly regaled the beauty and wonder of this world that Keith hadn’t even known existed further than his little pocket of ocean made him desperate to see more. 

They talked and talked, neither of them keeping track of the time. When they realized how long they’d been, Lance offered to swim back to Keith’s rocky ledge with him. Keith figured it was mostly because he wanted to see Keith actually get out of the water and get his legs back, but he found that he didn’t mind the company at all. 

They were nearly there, when suddenly, Lance whipped around to look at him so fast, eyes wide that Keith’s heart seized, immediately thinking that the only explanation could be that something was behind him. But as he whipped around to look behind him as well, he found nothing, and he turned back to Lance to demand an explanation. 

“Wait, does that mean you were chasing me without knowing?” 

That was not an explanation. 

“What?”

“You were chasing me earlier.” 

“Yeah?” 

“And you’ve grown up on land.” 

“Mostly, yeah.” What was Lance getting at?

“So you didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?” Keith asked exasperatedly. 

“What the chase is supposed to be for.” Lance mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck in what Keith could only take to be a sheepish manner. Of course, none of what he was saying was making any sense, so Keith leveled him a blank stare, which seemed to only embarrass Lance further. “It’s like,” he began, but fell silent. “I don’t know the human equivalent,” he admitted, “But for us, it’s kind of like...” he trailed off. 

“Like what?” Couldn’t Lance just spit it out? 

“It’s like informal courting.” 

“Courting?” Keith repeated, not understanding, “What’s-” And then it hit him.

Oh. 

_ Oh. _


End file.
